Surprisingly inventive triad picture brings us Nick Cheung
in his first big starring role. He’s a righteous triad who
uses his brains to create the best damn debt collecting triad
in HK. Formerly a peon of wacky triad boss Francis Ng, he
joins forces with big triad guy Austin Wai and leaves Francis
behind. Helping him are his mother (Law Koon-Lan in the film’s
best performance) and fellow triad Sam Lee. Romantic tension
is supplied by a comely club girl (Tina Lee) who’s won over
by Cheung’s abilities.
What’s inventive about the film is
how Cheung uses his noggin to get ahead. The first half plays
like a comedy as he and his buddies fool various triad types
into paying off their debts - making them quite popular with
the creditors. The guys who pay up aren’t so happy, so they
join together to bring Cheung down - which is where the film
derails. Once Cheung is framed for offending legendary mob
boss Anthony Wong, the film devolves into standard genre clichés
that result in your usual action ending.
Director Ivan Lai doesn’t possess
the style or verve needed to pull off the film, but Nick Cheung
has a decent showing. Sadly, most of the supporting actors
are just awful. Tina Lee is terrible and the various triad
extras need major acting lessons. Even Sam Lee and Francis
Ng don’t provide their usual spark. In HK’s film doldrums,
this is a passably entertaining film, but it covers no new
ground - which is something the HK film industry desperately
needs to do before its too late. (Kozo 1999)